Data recording and retrieval, sheet music, music keyboard tablature and method of teaching music

ABSTRACT

The present invention comprises a method of instructing a performer on the hand manipulations to make to play a piece of music. The invention includes a representation. The representation includes at least one time line which represents the elapse of time during the piece of music. Each time line is marked with beat indicia which indicate on the time line the occurrence of a beat in the music and indicia which mark the transition between bars. Symbols carry instructions on where the fingers are to be placed to define “home” keys, and other symbols carry instructions as to which fingers are to strike a key during a beat.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This is a national stage application filed under 35 USC 371 based onInternational Application No. PCT/AU2001/001088 tiled Aug. 30, 2001, andclaims priority under 35 USC 119 of Australian Patent Application No. PQ9823 filed Aug. 31, 2000.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to recording and retrieval of data, tokeyboard music and to a method of teaching keyboard instruments.

BACKGROUND ART

The traditional musical notational system for Western music developed inEurope from the work of a monk named Guido d' Arezzo (Guido of Arezzo).

That notational system conveys information about the melody, rhythm andharmony of a piece of music which has been written within the conventionof the grand staff.

Guido d' Arezzo was motivated primarily to find an unambiguous method ofwriting down the musical sound content of Gregorian chants. He wasdeveloping a notational system which was to be used by vocalists, not byinstrumentalists.

Instrumentalists, unlike vocalists, produce music by the physicalmanipulation of a musical instrument. A trained musician can derivethose physical manipulations from the information that is containedwithin the conventional notation. For example, a pianist can read apiece of music in the conventional notation and decide which finger touse on which key of the keyboard to play each note.

The translation of music in conventional notation into manipulation ofthe keyboard requires a high degree of skill, which is not easy toacquire. The translation can also, in some respects, be ambiguous.

Historically there have been some forms of tablature for keyboard andstring instruments which set out some information about the physicalmanipulations of the instrument which should take place to play a pieceof music. These forms of tablature have, however, been developed as‘memory joggers’ for musicians who either already knew the music or whowould be using the tablature together with the conventional notation forthe piece of music.

It is accordingly an aim of the present invention to provide arepresentation of a piece of music which serves primarily as a set ofinstructions on the physical manipulations which a performer is toperform in playing a piece of keyboard music. It is a particular aim toprovide such instructions precisely and unambiguously.

It is a further aim of the present invention to provide a medium for thestorage and retrieval of data. In particular, it is an aim of theinvention to provide such a medium for which the data is a piece ofmusic.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention accordingly provides a representation of a pieceof music which may be played by a performer on a keyboard, whichrepresentation includes:

-   -   at least one time line which represents the elapse of time        during the piece of music, and wherein there is associated with        each time line:        -   beat indicia which indicate points in time on the time line;            and        -   associated with each beat indicia, indicia of which fingers,            if any, are to play a note on the keyboard.

The present invention also provides a method of instructing a performeron the manual movements to make in playing a piece of music, whichmethod includes providing:

-   -   at least one time line which represents the elapse of time        during the piece of music, and wherein there is associated with        each time line:        -   beat indicia which indicate points in time on the time line;            and        -   associated with each beat indicia, indicia of which fingers,            if any, are to play a note on the keyboard.

PREFERRED FEATURES OF THE INVENTION

It is preferred that there are two such time lines, one corresponding toeach hand of the performer.

It is further preferred that there be indicia which indicate thebeginning of each bar.

It is further preferred that the representation includes informationwhich instructs the performer as to which keys of the keyboard are to betreated as home keys where performers are to rest their fingers when notplaying a note. It is particularly preferred that the representationincludes information which instructs the performer to change the homekeys during the playing of the piece of music.

It is further preferred that the representation is used in conjunctionwith a keyboard which is marked to indicate the home positions of atleast one finger of each hand. It is particularly preferred that thekeys of the keyboard which play middle C, and the note one octave lowerin pitch than middle C, be marked. It is further particularly preferredthat each key which plays a ‘C’ note is marked.

It is further preferred that the representation includes indicia whichindicate the movement that a finger is to make to strike a key otherthan the home key for that finger.

It is further preferred that the representation includes indicia whichindicate movement that the entire hand is to make so that a finger maystrike a key other than the home key for that finger.

It is further preferred that the representation includes indicia whichindicate the movement that the entire hand is to make so that thefingers can strike a key other than the home ‘C’ keys for that hand.

It is further preferred that the representation includes indicia,associated with the beat indicia, indicating when each note is to beplayed relative to the beat indicia.

It is further preferred that the representation includes indicia whichindicate the length of each note.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 represents a relationship between the conventional system ofmusic notation and a four octave musical keyboard.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the two hands of a keyboard player.

FIGS. 3 to 27 are schematic representations of the relationship betweenthe traditional system of musical notation and the present system ofkeyboard musical tablature for various types of note combinations.

FIG. 28 is a graphical summary of some features of the notational systemaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 29 is a sample page as seen by a learner.

Preferred embodiments of the invention are described with reference tothe drawings. DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE DRAWINGS

The lower portion of FIG. 1 shows a four octave portion of a musickeyboard 1. The portion of the keyboard 1 which is illustrated spansfour octaves of pitch Five of the keys are marked, in the drawing only,as follows:

-   -   C₁ and which plays a note which is two octaves in pitch below        middle C;    -   C₂ and which plays a note which is one octave in pitch below        middle C;    -   C₃ and which plays the note which is known as middle C;    -   C₄ and which plays the note which is one octave in pitch above        middle C; and    -   C₅ and which plays a note which is two octaves in pitch above        middle C.

It is to be understood that the convention described above differs fromthe piano tuners' convention for identifying the keys of a standardseven octave piano keyboard.

The upper portion of FIG. 1 shows the treble stave 2 and the bass stave3 of the traditional musical notation system. The vertical positioningof a note relative to the treble stave 2 indicates the pitch of a notewhich is to be played with the right hand. Similarly, the verticalpositioning of a note relative to the bass stave 3 indicates the pitchof a note which is to be played with the left hand.

FIG. 1 shows the relationship between:

-   -   the vertical spacing of notes relative to the staves; and    -   the key of the keyboard which plays that note.

A note which is printed at the vertical position 4 relative to the bassstave is played by striking the key which is marked C₁ on therepresentation of the keyboard 1. A note which is printed at thevertical position 6 on the bass stave 3 corresponds to the key C₂ on thekeyboard. The note which can be printed at any one of the three verticalpositions shown as 7, 8 and 9 is middle C and corresponds to the key C₃on the keyboard. Similarly, the notes which are printed at positions 11and 12 on or relative to the treble stave correspond to the keys markedC₄ and C₅ on the keyboard.

The operation of the tablature system according to the presentembodiment of the invention involves the application of a numberingsystem to indicate the individual fingers of the performer's left andright hands. This convention is shown in FIG. 2, which shows the fingersof the left hand 16 as denoted by the numbers from 1 for the thumb to 5for the little finger. Similarly, the convention is shown in FIG. 2 asdenoting the fingers of the right hand 17 by the numbers from 1 for thethumb to 5 for the little finger.

-   -   The operation of the tablature system according to the present        embodiment of the invention also involves the identification of        ‘home’ positions for the performer's hands, and thus of the        fingers of the hands, relative to the keyboard. In the tablature        system according to the present embodiment, the home positions        for the performer's hands may change during the playing of a        piece of music.

FIG. 3 illustrates how a method of tablature according to the presentinvention relates to a conventional keyboard. A representation of thepresent tablature system as it could appear in sheet music is generallyindicated by the bracket 18. The embodiment of the invention as shown inFIG. 3 illustrates music with a ‘four four’ (₄ ⁴) time signature, thatis with four beats to the bar, each beat being of the duration of aquarter note.

The representation 18 includes a line of text 21 which reads ‘RH 1 on C₃LH 5 on C₂’ to indicate that the ‘home’ positions allocate finger 1 ofthe right hand to the key C₃ and finger 5 of the left hand to key C₂.

The representation 18 also includes a line 22 and a line 23. The lines22 and 23 are prefixed with the symbols ‘R.H.’ and ‘L.H.’ respectively,indicating that the line relates to the right hand and left hand of theperformer respectively. Each line 22 and 23 includes a run of beatmarkers 24 which are preferably in the form of underscore characters.The beat markers 24 are arranged in a horizontally extending line. Avertical bar marker 26 separates each beat. It is preferred that eachbar marker 26 be in the form of a relatively short, vertically extendingline. Because the music which is represented by FIG. 3 has a ₄ ⁴ timesignature, each bar marker 26 separates each group of four beat markers24.

The piece of music which is shown in the conventional music notationsystem 27 in FIG. 3 consists of nine notes, four of which are on thebass clef and five of which are on the treble clef. The keys of theconventional keyboard which correspond to those nine notes are marked onthe portion of keyboard which appears at 28 in FIG. 3. The correspondingrepresentation of the music according to the present embodiment of theinvention is shown at 18. That representation consists of the numbers 5,4, 3, 2 and 1 on the line 23 and of the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 on theline 22.

Each of these numbers is vertically aligned above a beat marker 24 toindicate that fingers 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 of the left hand are to striketheir respective home keys on successive beats and that fingers 1, 2, 3,4 and 5 of the right hand are to strike their respective home keys onsucceeding beats.

FIG. 4 illustrates a piece of music 31 represented in the conventionalnotation system, while the keyboard 32 shows the keys which are struckin playing the piece of music 31. The music 31 is represented accordingto the present invention at 33.

The piece of music 31 has eight ascending notes. The pitches of thefirst five of these notes is such that they are played by successivelystriking the home keys of fingers 1 to 5 of the right hand.

The sixth, seventh and eighth notes are respectively one, two and threekey positions to the right of the fifth finger of the right hand. Toindicate that the sixth note 37 is played by moving the fifth finger ofthe right hand one key to the right from its home position to beforestriking a key, the sixth note in representation 33 is shown with asuperscript of a single ‘plus’ sign, that is as 5 ⁺.

To indicate that the seventh 38 note is played by moving the fifthfinger of the right hand two keys to the right from its home positionbefore striking a key, the seventh note in representation 33 is shownwith a superscript of two vertically aligned ‘plus’ signs, that is as 5⁺ ⁺ .

Similarly, to indicate that the eighth note 39 is played by moving thefifth finger of the right hand three keys to the right from its homeposition before striking a key, the eighth note in representation 33 isshown with a superscript of three vertically aligned ‘plus’ signs.

It is preferred that a symbol in the form of a skewed bracket 41 beplaced above the notes 37, 38 and 39 to indicate that these notes areplayed by moving a finger from its home key.

FIG. 5 illustrates a piece of music 41 represented in the conventionalnotation system, while the keyboard 42 shows the keys which are struckin playing the piece of music 41. The music 41 is represented accordingto the present invention at 43.

The piece of music 41 has eight descending notes. The pitches of thefirst five of these notes is such that they are played by successivelystriking the home keys of fingers 1 to 5 of the left hand.

The sixth, seventh and eighth notes are respectively one, two and threekey positions to the left of the first finger of the left hand. Toindicate that the sixth note 47 is played by moving the first finger ofthe left hand one key to the left from its home position to beforestriking a key, the sixth note in representation 43 is shown with asuperscript of a single ‘minus’ sign, that is as 1 ⁻.

To indicate that the seventh 48 note is played by moving the firstfinger of the right hand two keys to the left from its home positionbefore striking a key, the seventh note in representation 43 is shownwith a superscript of two vertically aligned ‘minus’ signs, that is as 1⁻ ⁻ .

Similarly, to indicate that the eighth note 49 is played by moving thefifth finger of the left hand three keys to the left from its homeposition before striking a key, the eighth note in representation 43 isshown with a superscript of three vertically aligned ‘minus’ signs.

It is preferred that a symbol in the form of a skewed bracket 51 beplaced above the notes 47, 48 and 49 to indicate that these notes areplayed by moving a finger from its home key.

FIG. 6 illustrates a piece of music 51 represented in the conventionalnotation system, while the keyboard 52 shows the keys which are struckin playing the piece of music 51. The music 51 is represented accordingto the present invention at 53.

The piece of music 51 has five ascending notes which are numbered 54 to58. The pitch of the first of these notes is middle C, and it is playedby finger number 1 on its home key C₃. The second to fifth notes(numbered 55 to 68) are each two key widths to the right of each offingers 2 to 5 respectively.

Accordingly, the notes 54 to 58 are played by placing finger 1 of theright hand on its home key and displacing all the other fingers of theright hand by one key position to the right.

This initial arrangement of the fingers away from the home keys isindicated in the representation 53 according to the present invention bythe instruction ‘R.H. 1 of C3 with 2 ^(+>). In the composite symbol ‘2^(+>)’ the symbol ‘^(>)’ indicates a shift of multiple fingers to theright, the single plus symbol ‘⁺’ indicates that the shift is by one keywidth, and the symbol ‘2 ’ indicates that all the fingers from fingernumber 2 up to 5 move.

The numbers ‘1’ to ‘5’ appearing at positions 61 to 65 in therepresentation 53 according to the present invention then indicate thatfingers 1 to 5 are used to play the notes.

FIG. 7 illustrates a piece of music 71 represented in the conventionalnotation system, while the keyboard 72 shows the keys which are struckin the playing of the piece of music 71. The music 71 is representedaccording to the present invention at 73.

The piece of music 71 has eight ascending notes numbered 74 to 81. Thepitches of the first three of these notes (the notes which are numbered74, 75 and 76) are such that they are played by successively strikingthe home keys of fingers 1 to 3 of the right hand.

The fourth to eighth notes (the notes which are numbered 77 to 81) arethe ascending notes immediately following the first three notes on thekeyboard. These five notes are played by the performer tucking the thumbof the right hand (that is, finger 1 of the right hand) to the rightunder fingers 2 and 3 to strike the key which is immediately to theright of finger 3, and then moving the entire hand to the right to playthe four notes 78, 79, 80 and 81.

To indicate that the first three notes 74 to 76 are played by strikingkeys at the home positions of the first three fingers of the right hand,the representation 73 according to the present invention shows thenumbers ‘1’, ‘2’ and ‘3 ’ at positions 82, 83 and 84 on representation73.

To indicate that the fourth to eighth notes are played by moving firstthe thumb, and then the entire hand to the right to play the five notes77 to 81, the representation 73 shows an arrow 91 which spans one keywidth, and the numbers ‘1 ’ to ‘5 ’ at positions 85 to 89.

FIG. 8 illustrates a piece of music 91 represented in the conventionalnotation system, while the keyboard 92 shows the keys which are struckin playing the piece of music 91. The music 91 is represented accordingto the present invention at 93.

The piece of music 91 has eight descending notes numbered 94 to 101. Thepitches of the first five of these notes (the notes which are numbered94 to 98) are such that they are played by placing finger 5 of the righthand on the note C₄ to establish home keys for the right hand and thensuccessively striking the home keys of fingers 5 to 1 of the right hand.

The sixth to eighth notes (the notes which are numbered 99 to 101) arethe descending notes immediately following the first five notes on thekeyboard. These three notes are played by the performer moving thefingers 3 and 2 to the left over finger 1 (the thumb) to play note 99 bystriking the key which is immediately to the left of finger 1, withfinger 3 and note 100 with finger 2, and then picking up the thumb andsliding it under fingers 2 and 3 to play note 101.

To indicate that the fingers of the right hand are to be placed on homekeys to play the first five notes 94 to 98, the representation 102according to the present invention includes the instruction ‘R.H. 5 onC₄ ’. Further, to indicate that these first five notes 94 to 108 are tobe played by striking keys with fingers 5 to 1, the representation 102is marked with the numbers ‘5’, ‘4’, ‘3’, ‘2’ and ‘1’.

To indicate that the sixth to eighth notes are played by moving firstfinger 3, and then the entire hand to the left to play the three notes99 to 101, the representation 93 shows an arrow 111 which spans one keywidth, and the numbers ‘3’ to ‘1’ at positions 108 to 110.

FIG. 9 illustrates a piece of music 121 represented in the conventionalnotation system, while the keyboard 122 shows the keys which are struckin playing the piece of music 121. The music 121 is representedaccording to the present invention at 123.

The piece of music 121 has seven ascending notes numbered 124 to 130.The pitch of the first of these notes (numbered 124) is by placingfinger 1 of the right hand on middle C (the key marked C₃) to establishhome keys for the right hand and then moving finger 1 one key to theleft to strike the note which is one key to the left of C₃.

The second to sixth notes (the notes which are numbered 126 to 129) arethe five ascending notes following immediately to the right of the firstnote. These three notes are played by the performer successivelystriking the keys which are the home keys for fingers 1 to 5 of theright hand.

The seventh note is the ascending note following immediately to theright of the sixth note on the keyboard. This note is played by theperformer moving finger 5 of the right hand one key position to theright and striking that key.

To indicate that the fingers of the right hand are initially to beplaced on home keys to play the seven notes 124 to 130, therepresentation 123 according to the present invention includes theinstruction 141 ‘R.H. 1 on C₃’.

To indicate that the first note 124 of these seven notes is to beplayed-by moving finger 1 by one key lower in pitch, the position 133 inrepresentation. 123 is marked with the symbol ‘1 ⁻’.

To indicate that the notes 125 to 129 are to be played by striking thekeys corresponding to the home positions of fingers 1 to 5, thepositions 135 to 138 on representation 123 are marked with the fingernumbers ‘1 ’ to ‘5 ’ respectively.

To indicate that the seventh note 130 is to be played by moving finger 5by one key higher in pitch, the position 139 in representation 123 ismarked with the symbol ‘5 ⁺’.

FIG. 10 illustrates the operation of the present invention in relationto apiece of music which includes semitones, and thus in which theperformer's fingers must move to the black keys of the keyboard to playthe music.

The Figure illustrates a piece of music 151 in the conventional notationsystem while the keyboard 152 shows the keys which must be struck inplaying the piece of music 151. The music 151 is represented accordingto the present invention at 153.

The piece of music 151 has seven ascending notes numbered 161 to 167.The pitch of the first of these notes (numbered 161) is by placingfinger 1 of the right hand on middle C (the key marked C₃) to establishhome keys for the right hand and striking the key C₃.

Similarly, the second note 162 of the piece of music is played bystriking the home key for finger 2 of the right hand.

The third note 163 is an ‘E-flat’ key, denoted by the ‘flat’ symbol ‘♭’before it. This symbol indicates that the note is a half tone in pitchbelow middle E. The black keys on the keyboard 152 are the half tonekeys, and the black key corresponding to ‘E₃-flat’ is the black keywhich is numbered 159 in FIG. 10.

The fourth, fifth and sixth notes of the piece of music 151 are thenotes which are numbered 164, 165 and 166. They are played by strikingthe home keys for fingers 3, 4 and 5 of the right hand.

The seventh note of the piece of music 151 is the note which is numbered167. It is preceded in the traditional notation 151 by the ‘sharp’symbol ‘♯’, which indicates that note higher in pitch than is the homekey for finger 5 of the right hand.

The representation 153 according to the present invention includes theinstruction 141 ‘R.H. 1 on C₃’ to indicate the home positions of thefingers of the right hand for playing the piece of music 151.

To indicate that the notes 161 and 162 are to be played by striking thekeys corresponding to the home positions of fingers 1 and 2 , thepositions 169 and 170 on representation 153 are marked with the fingernumbers ‘1’ and ‘2’ respectively.

To indicate that the third note 163 is to be played by moving finger 3by one black key lower in pitch, the position 171 in representation 153is marked with the symbol ‘3 ^(♭)’.

To indicate that the fourth, fifth and sixth notes 164, 165 and 166 areto be played by striking the keys which correspond to the home positionsof fingers 3, 4 and 5 the positions 172, 173 and 174 in representation153 are marked with the symbols ‘3’, ‘4’ and ‘5’ respectively. (Unlikethe operation of conventional notation rules for sharps, flats, naturalsand key signatures, the absence of a ‘flat’ superscript in conjunctionwith the numbers ‘3’, ‘4’ and ‘5’ indicates that the keys to be struckby those fingers are the white keys. Similarly the same conventionapplies to ‘sharp’ superscripts. Numbers without the ‘sharp’ and ‘flat’superscript are always white keys. Notes with such superscripts arealways black keys.)

To indicate that the seventh note 167 is to be played by striking movingfinger 5 by one black key higher in pitch, the position 175 is markedwith the symbol ‘5 ^(♯)’.

FIG. 11 illustrates the operation of the present invention in relationto a piece of music which includes semitones and extensions of theplayer's fingers away from home keys.

The Figure illustrates a piece of music 181 in the conventional notationsystem while the keyboard 182 shows the keys which must be struck inplaying the piece of music 181. The music 181 is represented accordingto the present invention at 183.

The piece of music 181 has seven ascending notes numbered 191 to 197.The pitch of the first of these notes (numbered 161) is by placingfinger 1 of the right hand on middle C (the key marked C₃) to establishhome keys for the right hand and then moving finger 1 to keys to theleft and striking that key.

The second and third notes 192 and 193 are played by striking the homekeys for the second and third fingers of the right hand.

The fourth note 194 is an ‘E-flat’ key, denoted by the ‘flat’ symbol ‘♭’before it. This symbol indicates that the note is a half tone in pitchbelow middle E. The black keys on the keyboard 152 are the half tonekeys, and the black key corresponding to ‘E₃-flat’ is the black keywhich is numbered 187 in FIG. 11.

The fifth note of the piece of music 181 is the note which is numbered195. It is preceded in the traditional notation 181 by the ‘sharp’symbol ‘♯’, which indicates that the note is ‘G₃sharp’. This note isplayed by striking the black key which is one half note higher in pitchthan is the home key for finger 4 of the right hand.

The sixth note 196 in the piece of music 181 is played by striking thehome key 189 for the fifth finger of the right hand.

The seventh note 197 in the piece of music 181 is preceded by the sharpsymbol ♯. The composite symbol indicates the note is one half tone abovethe note which is one octave above middle C. To play this note, thefifth finger of the right hand si moved one key to the right and then tothe next higher black key, numbered 190 in the representation of hekeyboard 192.

The representation 183 according to the present invention includes theinstruction 198 ‘R.H. 1 on C₃’ to indicate the home positions of thefingers of the right hand for playing the piece of music 181.

To indicate that the note 191 is played by moving finger 1 of the righthand by two keys to the left to strike a key, the position 199 in therepresentation 183 is marked 1 ⁻ ⁻ .

To indicate that the notes 192 and 193 of the piece of music 181 areplayed by fingers 1 and 2 of the right hand, the positions 200 and 201in the representation 183 are marked 1 and 2 respectively.

To indicate that the note 194 is played by moving the third finger ofthe right hand from the home position to the black key which is a halftone lower in pitch than the home key for finger 3, the position 202 inthe representation 183 is marked with the symbol 3 ^(♭).

To indicate that the note 195 is played by moving finger 4 of the righthand to the black key which is a half-tone higher in pitch than the homekey for finger 4, the position 203 is marked with the symbol 4 ^(♯).

To indicate that the note 195 is played by moving finger 4 of the righthand to the black key which is one half-tone higher in pitch than thehome key for finger 4, the position 203 in the representation 183 ismarked with the symbol 4 ^(♯).

To indicate that the note 196 is played by striking the home key offinger 5 of the right hand, the position 204 in representation 183 ismarked with the symbol 5.

To indicate that the note 197 is played by moving the fifth finger ofthe right hand by both a key width to the right plus a movement to theblack key which is one semi-tone higher in pitch, the symbol ‘5 ’ atposition 204 of the representation carries both of the superscripts ‘+’and ‘♯’.

FIG. 12 illustrates how various chord forms are represented according tothe present invention.

Chord forms are represented according to the traditional notationalsystem at 211, with the corresponding form according to the presentinvention at 212.

The first bar of music 214 consists of four semibreves which sound forthe length of the bar. They are played by simultaneously striking homekeys 1, 3 and 5 of the right hand and home key 5 of the left hand on thefirst beat of the bar 214.

These finger movements are represented by the three symbols ‘1’, ‘3’ and‘5 ’ for the right hand and ‘5’ for the left hand vertically aligned at218. Each of the symbols ‘5’, ‘3’ and ‘1’ for the right hand has a ‘tie’symbol extending the length of bar to indicate that the note is to soundfor the entire length of the bar.

The left hand C₂ note of bar 214 is repeated in bars 215, 216 and 217 ofthe music 211. This is emphasised in the representation 212 by theseries of ties 222, 223 and 224 connecting these notes from bar to bar.

The music which is to be played by the right hand in the bar 215 is aminim of pitch C₂, to be played on the first beat of the bar and twominims, of E and G pitch, to be played simultaneously on the second beatof the bar. This is shown in the representation 212:

-   -   by the symbol ‘1 ’ on the first beat with a tie extending the        duration of the two beats; followed by    -   the symbols ‘5’ and ‘3’ appearing on the third beat of the bar,        with a tie extending the duration of two beats (to the end of        the bar).

The music which is played during the bar 216 is four crotchets, beingthe notes C₂, E, G and E played in succession on successive beats of thebar. This is shown in representation 212 by the symbols ‘1’, ‘3’, ‘5’and ‘3’ appearing on the markers for successive beats of the bar.

The music which is to be played during bar 211 is a chord of twocrotchets of pitch C₂ and to be played on the first beat of the bar, anda chord of two crotchets of pitch E and G to be played on the third beatof the bar. The finger instructions for this bar are shown inrepresentation 212 by:

-   -   the two symbols ‘1’ and ‘3’ on the first beat of the bar,        combined with a tie symbol which extends to the end of the        second beat; and    -   the symbols ‘3’ and ‘5’ on the third beat of the bar, combined        with a tie symbol which extends to the end of the fourth beat of        the bar.

FIGS. 13 to 17 show representations according to the present inventionof several chord forms, in conjunction with the representations of thosechord forms according to conventional musical notation. These Figuresare illustrative of the principles which are set out in preceding partsof this specification, and are self explanatory in the light of thoseprinciples, except for the use of the symbols which are indicated at 220and 221 in FIG. 14 and which are called ‘to be occupied by’ symbols.

The symbols 220 and 221 are arrows curving downwards and upwardsrespectively along the time lines. The ‘to be occupied by’ symbol whichcurves downwards from the number ‘3’ to the number ‘1’ in the first barof the music indicates that the right hand is to be moved to the rightso that the key position that was occupied by the third finger is to beoccupied by the first finger when the had movement is complete.

The ‘to be occupied by’ symbol 221 which curves upwards from the number‘1’ to the number ‘3’ indicates that the right hand is to be moved tothe left so that the key position that was occupied by the first fingeris to be occupied by the third finger when the hand movement iscomplete.

Musical notes are of differing, but standardised duration. Therepresentation of note duration according to the present invention isillustrated by reference to FIGS. 18 and 19.

The piece of music 230 of FIG. 18 is in a ₄ ⁴ time signature. The firstbar 232 for the left hand has a single note of pitch C₂ which lasts fourbeats (a semibreve). This note is shown at 223 in the representationaccording to the present invention by the symbol ‘1 ’ appearing on thefirst eat of the bar at 233 in conjunction with the ‘tie’ symbol 234extending the duration of the bar. The symbol ‘1’ indicates that thenote is to be played by striking the home key of finger 1 of the righthand and the tie symbol indicates that the note is to be played for theduration of the bar.

The second bar 236 for the right hand has two notes, each of which laststwo beats (that is, they are both minims), and are respectively of pitchD and E.

These notes are shown at 237 and 238 in the representation 231 accordingto the present invention by the symbols ‘2’ and ‘3’ appearing on thefirst and third beats of the bar 236 with the ‘tie’ symbols 239 and 240each extending for the duration of half the bar. The symbols ‘2’ and ‘3’respectively instruct the player to play these notes by striking thehome keys of the fingers 2 and 3 of the right hand.

The third bar 242 for the right hand has four notes, each of which lastsone beat (that is, they are all crotchets) and are of pitch F, E, D andC respectively. The notes are shown at 243 in the representation 231according to the present invention of the symbols ‘4’, ‘3’, ‘2’ and ‘1’appearing on the four successive beats of the bar 242. These foursymbols instruct the player to play four notes by striking the home keysfor the fourth, third, second and first fingers of the right hand.Because these symbols, and no other symbols, appear within the bar 242for the left hand the player allows the note to sound only during thebeat on which it appears in representation 231.

The fourth bar 246 for the right hand has eight notes, each of whichlasts half a beat (that is, they are all quavers) and are of pitch D, E,F, G, G, F, E, D and C respectively.

The notes are shown at 247 according to the present invention by thesymbols ‘23’, ‘45’, ‘43’ and ‘21’ appearing on the four successive beatsof the bar. These four symbols instruct the player to play the music bystriking:

-   -   the home keys for fingers 2 and 3 successively during the first        beat of the bar;    -   the home keys for the fingers 4 and 5 successively during the        second beat of the bar;    -   the home keys for the fingers 4 and 3 successively during the        third beat of the bar; and    -   the home keys for the fingers 2 and 1 successively during the        final beat of the bar.

The piece of music 251 of FIG. 19 is in a ₄ ⁴ time signature.

The first bar 252 in the music 251 has eight triplets. That is, it hasfour groups of three notes, each group of three notes to be played inthe time for two quavers (one beat). This note combination is shown inthe representation 252 according to the present invention as a threedigit symbol connected by a tie symbol and the superscript ‘3’ on eachbeat of the bar.

The second bar 253 of the piece of music 251 has four groups of fournotes, each group of notes to be played during one beat (that is, thenotes are semiquavers).

This note combination is shown in the representation 254 according tothe present invention as a four digit symbol on each beat of the bar.

In FIG. 20, the first bar of the piece of music 260 shows a time restfor the duration of a semibreve, that is a short thick line parallel to,touching and below the fourth line of the treble stave. This restindicates that there is no note played during the bar.

The representation 265 according to the present invention is shown at261 as a continuous horizontal line extending the duration of the bar.

The music 260 also shows the rests for the minim at 257, for thecrotchet at 258 and for the quaver at 259. The representation 265according to the present invention shows the equivalent instructionsrespectively as:

-   -   a horizontal line 262 extending for two beats (half a bar);    -   a horizontal line 263 extending one beat (a quarter of a bar);        and    -   a horizontal line 264 extending one beat.

In FIG. 21, the third and fourth bars show a tie 268 connecting twosemibreves of middle C pitch, each at the beginning of a bar. This tiedenotes that the second note is not actually struck, but that the actualduration of the first note is to be two bars.

The equivalent instruction to the player in the representation 269according to the present invention is the symbol ‘1’ appearing on thefirst beat of the first bar 270 to instruct the player to strike thehome key for finger 1, and a ‘tie’ symbol 271 extending the fullduration of two bars to instruct the player to maintain the note for twobars.

FIGS. 22 and 23 illustrate various time signatures according to thepresent invention, and are self explanatory in the light of thepreceding description of the invention.

FIGS. 23 and 24 illustrate how the home positions for the hands may varyduring a piece of music.

FIG. 24 shows a piece of music 275 in which the initial home positionfor finger 1 of the right hand is on key C₄. In the second, third andfourth bars the home positions for finger 1 of the right hand change toE₃, E₄ and G₃ respectively. This is shown in the representation 276according to the present invention by the symbols ‘C₄’, ‘E₃’, ‘E₄’ and‘G₃’ numbered 277,278,279 and 280 respectively appearing on the beggingbeat of the first to fourth bars.

Similarly, the changes in the home positions for the right hand to playthe piece of music 285 of FIG. 25 are shown by the symbols ‘E₃’, ‘C₄’,‘G₃’ and ‘D₄’ in the representation according to the present inventionat 286.

FIG. 26 shows how the keyboard technique of ‘shifting’ is representedaccording to the present invention.

The first and third bars of the piece of music 301 start with a chord(303 and 305 respectively) which is played by striking the home keys ofthe first, third and fifth fingers of the left hand. The second half ofeach bar is a chord (304 and 306 respectively) which is played with thefingers of the left hand which were not used to play the first bar. Thatis, to play the second bar, the second and fourth fingers of the lefthand strike their home keys.

This alternation between the fingers of the hand is shown at 307 and 308respectively in the representation 302 according to the presentinvention.

It can also be seen from FIG. 26 that the third bar of music is playedwith the same fingers as is the first bar of music; and that the fourthbar of music is played with the same fingers as is the second bar ofmusic. However in each case the notes of the bars are two keys higher inpitch. This is indicated by the instructions for the right hand of ‘RH 1on C₃’ for the first and second bars and ‘RH 1 on E₃’ for the third andfourth bars.

Similarly, the left hand is moved two key spaces higher in pitch betweenthe second and third bars with the instructions ‘LH 5 on C₂’ and ‘LH 1on E₂’.

FIG. 27 illustrates alternative embodiments of the invention in whichboth the initiation and the duration of the sound of the notes may bespecified.

The embodiment 321 includes the bar lines 326 and the finger numbers 324as do the preceding embodiments. The present embodiment additionallyincludes beat point markers in the form of small crosses 322 which markthe beat point. In this embodiment, the length of the lines 326 indicatethe duration of the note (or notes) within the beat.

The embodiment 331 of the present invention is for a piece of musicwhich is played staccato, that is, in which each note sounds for halfthe duration of a beat interval. This is indicated by the lines 332being half the usual length, and by the short line 333 appearing undereach finger number.

The embodiment 341 of the present invention is for a piece of musicwhich is played staccatissimo, that is, in which each note sounds for aquarter of the duration of a beat interval. This is indicated by theline 342 being one quarter of the usual length, and by the dot 343appearing under each finger number.

The embodiment 351 of FIG. 27 is for a piece of music which is playedmezzo-staccato, that is, in which each note sounds for three-quarters ofthe duration of a beat interval. This is indicated by the line 352 beingthree-quarters of the usual length, and by a dot 353 appearing undereach finger number.

FIG. 28 summarises part of the notational system which is described indetail above by showing the fingers of the right hand placed relative tothe keyboard, and shows the manner in which various keys of the keyboardwould be designated relative to that hand position.

FIG. 29 shows the notation as presented to a learner with thecorresponding conventional notation staff by staff on the LH and RHsides of a page.

I have found the advantages of the above example to be:

-   1. Concise presentation.-   2. The notation mimics the traditional music notation in that it is    read in lines from left to right.-   3. More information is given than in traditional music notation.

1. A musical notation for instructing a performer on the manualmovements to make in playing a piece of music on an instrument,including the provision of at least one time line representing thepassage of time during the piece and associated with a time line is abeat indicia which shows points in time of the time line and associatedwith each beat, indicia of which fingers, if any, are to play a note onthe instrument without the representation of a keyboard, and whereinindicia show to the performer which keys are home keys where theperformers rest the fingers when not playing a note and the indicia showthe performer when to change the home keys during the piece of music. 2.A musical notation as claimed in claim 1, wherein two time lines providein one corresponding to each hand of the performer.
 3. A musicalnotation as claimed in claim 1 wherein the beginning of a bar isindicated by indicia.
 4. A musical notation as claimed in claim 1wherein indicia show the movement that a finger is to make to strike akey other than the home key for that finger.
 5. A musical notation asclaimed in claim 1 wherein indicia associated with a beat indiciaindicate when each note is to be played relative to the beat indicia. 6.A musical notation as claimed in claim 1 wherein the notation ispresented side by side with the corresponding traditional staves showingconventional musical notation.
 7. A method of transcribing conventionalstave data to the format of claim
 1. 8. A musical notation forinstructing a performer on the manual movements to make in playing apiece of music on an instrument, including the provision of at least onetime line representing the passage of time during the piece andassociated with a time line is a beat indicia which shows points in timeof the time line and associated with each beat, indicia of whichfingers, if any, are to play a note on the instrument without therepresentation of a keyboard, and wherein indicia show to the performerwhich keys are home keys where the performers rest the fingers when notplaying a note and indicia show movement for the entire hand so that afinger strikes a key other than the home key for that finger and iniciashow the movement for the entire hand so that the finger strikes a keyother than the home ‘C’ key for that hand.
 9. A musical notation asclaimed in claim 8, wherein two time lines provide in one correspondingto each hand of the performer.
 10. A musical notation as claimed inclaim 8 wherein the beginning of a bar is indicated by indicia.
 11. Amusical notation as claimed in claim 8 wherein indicia associated with abeat indicia indicate when each note is to be played relative to thebeat indicia.
 12. A musical notation as claimed in claim 8 wherein thenotation is presented side by side with the corresponding traditionalstaves showing conventional musical notation.
 13. A method oftranscribing convention stave data to the format of claim
 8. 14. Amusical notation for instructing a performer on the manual movements tomake in playing a piece of music on an instrument, including theprovision of at least one time line representing the passage of timeduring the piece and associated with a time line is a beat indicia whichshows points in time of the time line and associated with each beat,indicia of which fingers, if any, are to play a note on the instrumentwithout the representation of a keyboard, and wherein the indicia showthe length of each note expressed by one or more hyphens between a pairof bar lines and a series of numbers 1 to 5 corresponding to the fingersplaced side by side between the same bar lines.
 15. A musical notationas claimed in claim 14, wherein two time lines provide in onecorresponding to each hand of the performer.
 16. A musical notation asclaimed in claim 14 wherein the beginning of a bar is indicated byindicia.
 17. A musical notation as claimed in claim 14 wherein indiciaassociated with a beat indicia indicate when each note is to be playedrelative to the beat indicia.
 18. A musical notation as claimed in claim14 wherein the notation is presented side by side with the correspondingtraditional staves showing conventional musical notation.
 19. A methodof transcribing convention stave data to the format of claim 14.